With yet again another mass shooting taking place, this time in New Zealand, we see radical ideology playing out in the most heinous ways and it reflects a larger issue of the heart to be addressed. With compounding societal and technological variables we have painted ourselves into a culture of contempt, unable to disagree and discuss and still love. My heart breaks at this. There is intrinsic value and worth in EVERY human because God values us, gave everything for us, that His gifts of redemption, salvation, forgiveness, peace, and true freedom would be made available to everyone. If worth is determined by what is invested, then the infinite expense paid on our behalf makes each human infinitely valuable. But whether one follows Jesus or not does not change the value God places on the head of every individual. In the song Runaway by Jess Ray, she sings, “You will never see the bottom of the storehouses of his love.” Because He values us, we are valuable! Regardless of the situation, our past, or present situation, His love for us knows no boundaries.
If this is taken out of the equation, there is nothing left to justify intrinsic value and worth, but only a self seeking agenda that promotes self and power in an ego-centric drive at the expense of others because they are “less.”
What’s wrong with the world? All of us. We all hold a piece of the puzzle, because we are in this together. No "us" and "them." And at the moment we hold contempt for our fellow man, we will find ourselves blissfully unaware that we are blindly walking that rocky treacherous path of destruction to ourselves and those around us. Maybe it's time to choose to see and promote the value in the people around us, not degrade it.
Because He values us, we are valuable!
1 John 4:19 “We love because He first loved us.”
John 10:10 “...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Friday, March 15, 2019
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Green Coffee and Our Souls
Apparently green coffee (coffee beans before they are roasted for brewing that delicious morning jump) is like an odor sponge. It soaks up any scent that is around it, which can have a positive or negative effect on the finished product. The care and storage of green coffee is critical to what comes out of it.
Our hearts are much the same, big sponges that soak up whatever we put around it. In fact, it fills up with whatever is put around it. Whether through our eyes, ears mouth, or people or places we are around, our hearts soak up the essence of these and take on that “flavor.”
What are we doing each day to surround our hearts with what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8) so that our heart may truly be a wellspring of life, rather than a wellspring of projectile venom burning anyone who comes within a ten foot radius of us : ) Yep, we have all been there.
As you fill up your cup each morning, let it serve as a reminder to guard your hearts from the things we don’t’ want it to soak up, and place the things around it that we want it to be full of….after all, it determines the course of your life.
Our hearts are much the same, big sponges that soak up whatever we put around it. In fact, it fills up with whatever is put around it. Whether through our eyes, ears mouth, or people or places we are around, our hearts soak up the essence of these and take on that “flavor.”
What are we doing each day to surround our hearts with what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8) so that our heart may truly be a wellspring of life, rather than a wellspring of projectile venom burning anyone who comes within a ten foot radius of us : ) Yep, we have all been there.
As you fill up your cup each morning, let it serve as a reminder to guard your hearts from the things we don’t’ want it to soak up, and place the things around it that we want it to be full of….after all, it determines the course of your life.
Monday, May 21, 2018
God Makes Ordinary Things Extraordinary
I have been doing a lot of reading about microgreens lately. These tasty little green shoots clipped off from a variety of seed starts deliver a dense amount of nutrition and a vast pallet of flavors. I stumbled upon the most amazing fact about seeds the other day. They contain little or no vitamin A, B, C, D, or E. But 10-14 days after being planted, these slender green shoots emerge brimming with these vitamins that were completely absent merely days previous, and carry 50-60 times what existed in nutrients. If every sprout from a seed isn’t a miracle I don’t know what is!
Seeds are the starting point of all vegetation life, and human life. Very often God’s eternal truths are hidden in nature, and we learn a valuable one in these sprouts….God makes extraordinary things out of nothing. Multiplied exponentially, essentials appear out of nowhere, the God who brings life out of nothing, calls things that are not as though they were. When He lives in us, this is what He does through us.
If He makes this all happen with everything as small and insignificant as scattered seeds, imagine when you know him what He is waiting to see emerge in your life with seeds of truth planted in your heart and the living water flowing through your soul. Oh baby!
Seeds are the starting point of all vegetation life, and human life. Very often God’s eternal truths are hidden in nature, and we learn a valuable one in these sprouts….God makes extraordinary things out of nothing. Multiplied exponentially, essentials appear out of nowhere, the God who brings life out of nothing, calls things that are not as though they were. When He lives in us, this is what He does through us.
If He makes this all happen with everything as small and insignificant as scattered seeds, imagine when you know him what He is waiting to see emerge in your life with seeds of truth planted in your heart and the living water flowing through your soul. Oh baby!
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Let's Be Known By This...
What can I do? How can I help? What do I have to offer? How can we have the greatest impact?
We can become paralyzed in indecision and unknown, but Jesus offers us wisdom in John 14:34-35 that brings practicality and simplicity to move forward.
John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Often times….
We can be right, but wrong in our rightness.
We can be justified, but act unjust.
We can claim His name, and misrepresent His name.
We can speak truth, but harbor hate and entertain bitterness.
But I think what Jesus intends is this…
We can be known by the same love Jesus showed.
Rooted in truth, but wrapped in grace.
Humble in action, and right in love.
Fighting for justice, and not for just us.
Claiming His name, because in it we have found life.
Welcoming in love, and building up in truth.
Let us, as the Church, be known by this.
John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Often times….
We can be right, but wrong in our rightness.
We can be justified, but act unjust.
We can claim His name, and misrepresent His name.
We can speak truth, but harbor hate and entertain bitterness.
But I think what Jesus intends is this…
We can be known by the same love Jesus showed.
Rooted in truth, but wrapped in grace.
Humble in action, and right in love.
Fighting for justice, and not for just us.
Claiming His name, because in it we have found life.
Welcoming in love, and building up in truth.
Let us, as the Church, be known by this.
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Greater, Lesser, Why?
He Must Become Greater, I Must Become Less
Why is this? To many this seems an odd turn of phrase.
It is only when we empty ourselves that we may be filled with Him.
When our capacity is filled with everything else, we have no space for the endless spring of life.
If we cling to our own method of salvation, our own credentials of control, and resume of right-way-ness, the only thing we are clinging to is our sin and pride. When we let our sin fall away into the chasm of God’s redemption, we cling to righteousness that is not from us but that now defines us.
When John the Baptist had the opportunity to be known as great in His own right, he said, “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30)
Because it is in this that we may truly become His and life may begin.
He Must Become Greater, I Must Become Less
Why is this? To many this seems an odd turn of phrase.
It is only when we empty ourselves that we may be filled with Him.
When our capacity is filled with everything else, we have no space for the endless spring of life.
If we cling to our own method of salvation, our own credentials of control, and resume of right-way-ness, the only thing we are clinging to is our sin and pride. When we let our sin fall away into the chasm of God’s redemption, we cling to righteousness that is not from us but that now defines us.
When John the Baptist had the opportunity to be known as great in His own right, he said, “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30)
Because it is in this that we may truly become His and life may begin.
He Must Become Greater, I Must Become Less
Sunday, April 8, 2018
The Force That Changes The World
Remember it is not us at work trying to fix the world on our own, lest we settle for minimal change with diminishing quality; it is God at work within us that will change the world and bring true life. It is Him alone who has access to the source of all evil, the heart of man, and the only remedy that will bring redemption and true change, the love and grace of Jesus Christ.
When Jesus came to offer an alternative to destruction, hate, division, death of the soul, and eternal destitute, He said he was doing only what He sees the Father doing.
The One who had the greatest impact on humanity and the heart within, said He was only doing what He saw the Father doing.
The work we see God doing within us is a great thing to do to those around us….
Lord, let our hearts be for restoration, love, service, and forgiveness. Amen.
John 5:19-20 19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.
When Jesus came to offer an alternative to destruction, hate, division, death of the soul, and eternal destitute, He said he was doing only what He sees the Father doing.
The One who had the greatest impact on humanity and the heart within, said He was only doing what He saw the Father doing.
The work we see God doing within us is a great thing to do to those around us….
Lord, let our hearts be for restoration, love, service, and forgiveness. Amen.
John 5:19-20 19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Declaring to The Next Generation
Psalm 71:18
"Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation.
your mighty acts to all who are to come."
Lord, I ask that every day of my life you would bless me with the opportunity and privilege to declare your power to the next generation, to declare and share your mighty acts to all who are to come. Amen.
"Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation.
your mighty acts to all who are to come."
Lord, I ask that every day of my life you would bless me with the opportunity and privilege to declare your power to the next generation, to declare and share your mighty acts to all who are to come. Amen.
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